George Carlin's passing at age 71

I would be seriously remise if I didn't post about George Carlin's passing. I was very surprised when I heard the news. He was just one of those people who always seemed to be there and had no plans of going away anytime soon.

I first saw George Carlin on one of his many HBO specials back in the 70's. The only place, of course, where you could see him totally uncut. Frankly the only place on television where you could see him at all (for a long time anyway). I never had the pleasure of enjoying his act in person which I regret even more now.

In his forty-plus year career he was part of it all; concert halls, movies, television, books, albums. Plus, aside from his always straight-for-the-throat approach to this really strange world we live in, to many of us he will always be Rufus, the dude from the future who helps Bill & Ted achieve their excellent adventure.

Click on the photo above for an AP article about his memorial service. I very much appreciated the fact that, on the Saturday after he died, NBC re-ran the very first Saturday Night Live episode from 1975 which he hosted.